Freebies flow freely in Maharashtra budget ahead of assembly polls

Mumbai: A monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 to women in the 21 to 60 age group, three free LPG cylinders a year for households, farmer-friendly steps and a stipend of Rs 10,000 per month to youths for skill training were highlights of the Maharashtra government's budget for 2024-25 presented in the assembly on Friday, four months ahead of the state polls.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who holds the finance portfolio, presented a Rs 20,051 crore revenue deficit budget for the current fiscal even as he announced several sops for women, youths and farmers, among other sections, entailing an expenditure of more than Rs 80,000 crore.

A outlay of Rs 1.92 lakh crore was proposed under the scheme expenditure in the annual plan 2024-25.

Presenting his first full budget as the finance minister in the Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP government, Pawar announced a financial assistance scheme for women, "Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana".

He had presented an interim budget in February in view of the Lok Sabha polls.

Under the "Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana", eligible women in the age group 21 to 60 years will get a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500. The scheme is aimed at ensuring overall development and empowerment of women, including economic independence, self-reliance, health and nutrition, he said.

An amount of Rs 46,000 crore will be made available every year for this scheme, which will be implemented from July, Pawar announced.

Announcing another welfare measure aimed at women, 'Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojana', the deputy CM said there is a close connection between fuel used for cooking and women's health.

"It is our responsibility to provide clean fuel to reduce health issues for women. The use of LPG should be intensified as it is a safe fuel. The Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojana will provide three gas cylinders free per household a year," he maintained.

This scheme will benefit 52,16,412 families.

Pawar declared that a start-up scheme to help small women entrepreneurs, "Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Mahila", will be launched this year.

He announced that tuition and examination fees paid for professional courses by girls from OBC communities and economically weaker sections with annual family income up to Rs 8 lakh will be fully reimbursed by the government.

The programme, which will cover admission to professional degree and diploma courses in engineering, architecture, pharmacy, medicine and agriculture, will benefit 2.05 lakh girls. The scheme will start from the academic year 2024-25 and cost the state exchequer around Rs 2,000 crore, Pawar said.

The government will make available solar power pumps to 8.5 lakh farmers under "Magel Tyala" scheme to provide them free electricity. This initiative is part of a project for separation of agricultural electricity grids and solarise them to provide uninterrupted power to farmers during day time, said the finance minister.

He said the government will bear the burden of electricity bills of farmers and provide free power to run agriculture pumps up to 7.5 horse power capacity. This will help 44.06 lakh cultivators and a provision of Rs 14,761 crore will be made in form of subsidy for the scheme, said Pawar.

Pawar also announced a skill training programme, Mukhyamantri Yuva Karyaprashikshan Yojana, aimed at youths.

The scheme will provide job training in industrial and non-industrial establishments to 10 lakh youths every year. It will help in creating employment opportunities for youths and make available trained manpower to industries, he stated.

Under the scheme, each trainee will be given a stipend up to Rs 10,000 per month by the government and it will entail an expenditure of around Rs 10,000 crore, Pawar said.

Pawar proposed to reduce VAT on diesel and petrol from 24 per cent to 21 per cent in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai. This will make diesel cheaper by around Rs 2 per litre and petrol by 65 paise a litre in the Mumbai region.

The tax cut will cost the state exchequer Rs 200 crore.

The finance minister said an outlay of Rs 1.92 lakh crore was proposed under the scheme expenditure in the annual plan 2024-25. This includes an outlay of Rs 15,893 crore for scheduled caste plan and Rs 15,360 crore for tribal development sub-plan.

An outlay of Rs 6,12,293 crore was proposed for the total expenditure in 2024-25. Revenue receipts are proposed at Rs 4,99,463 crore, revenue expenditure at Rs 5,19,514 crore and estimated revenue deficit at Rs 20,051 crore, he told the assembly.

Pawar said the government has been successful in keeping the state's fiscal and revenue deficit within the limits set by the Fiscal Responsibility and Fiscal Management Act. The fiscal deficit for 2024-25 was Rrs 1,10,355 crore.

The state's own tax revenue was Rs 3,26,397 crore for 2023-24 as per revised estimates. The budget estimate for own tax revenue was fixed at Rs 3,43,040 cr for financial year 2024-25.